Many computer applications and operating systems have user adjustable parameters. These parameters are often adjustable without regard to other parameters. They can be adjusted despite the fact that an adjustment to one parameter may make an adjustment to a second parameter desirable or necessary.
For instance, a Graphical User Interface (“GUI”) may allow a user to make adjustments to large numbers of parameters. These could include locations, timing, orientations, colors and effects. The user may set each parameter independently. This could take a great deal of time.
In existing computer programs, often a change in the value of one parameter makes it necessary to change the values of several other parameters. The user of such a program may find that a particular relationship between two or more values (e.g. the values of speed and blur effect) is optimum. The difficulty arises when the user later needs to change one of the variables. For instance, the user might change the value of the first variable, (e.g. speed), and this change would destroy the optimum relationship between the first variable and the second variable (e.g. blur effect). The user would then have to change the second variable to compensate. Thus, every change in one variable requires the user to go back and change the other accordingly.
The problem becomes even worse when more than two variables are related to each other. For example, in a video compositing application, the optimum blur effect and the optimum virtual camera position may both depend on speed. In such a case, a change in blur effect necessary. The change in speed would also make a change in virtual camera position necessary. So, in this example, the users must change three separate parameters in order to implement a decision to change the speed.
Most computer application do not provide a good set of tools for maintaining optimum relationships among parameters. Thus, there is a need for a method of locking in relationships between two or more parameters of a computer operating system or application. There is also a need for a GUI to allow a user to practice the method in an intuitive manner. Ideally, such a GUI will enable the user to quickly and easily adjust multiple parameters.